Does anyone else get frustrated when you want to learn about science and everyone talks about politics?

Question

Since GW is, obviously, a global issue, of course governments and politicians must get involved. And I know people are concerned about GW legislation that will effect their daily lives. But why does someone have to bring up Al Gore and liberalism for just about every question?

Here are some examples. These are current legitimate questions where the asker seems to be looking for real information.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am53Kztk7g.oRUdXoy1w3I4S.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20080614161041AA4RIS9

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am53Kztk7g.oRUdXoy1w3I4S.Rd.;_ylv=3?qid=20080614161041AA4RIS9

Answer 1

When the "top answerer" is itself a denier and a troll, what do you expect. There is a lot riding on the govt keeping people ignorant of the extent of AGW!  I'm sure that the AGW victims in the midwest wouldn't say AGW is a hoax!   We have passed the tipping point!  Look for the start of "weather refugees" soon. The victims of Katrina were the first wave of refugees. Will you be next?

Answer 2

Global warming is politics.

Answer 3

Dr. Jello is correct. we all have to be more like Dr. Jello who forges his own opinions. Global warming has almost no science involved except for the enormous funding that is being wasted in this area. It is completely political as the government is trying to shove this manure down our throats. They are using this non-issue to create new taxes to pay for their lavish lifestyle. The illuminati is trying to create a one world order by creating all this chaos. Soon we will hear of having to unite to fight this pseudo- problem. We must resist the one-worlders and the bilderberghs.  FIGHT THE POWER! STICK IT TO THE MAN.

Answer 4

Yes.

The people who continually bring up political issues (especially those who attack Al Gore, as if he has any significance to the science of global warming) tend to be the ones who understand science the least.  Since they don't understand (or even try to understand) the science, they assume there isn't any science and it's all political.  That's simply balderdash.

The response to global warming is political.

The reality of global warming is scientific.

It's too bad those with strong political views aren't willing or able to dialog on creative responses, so instead they dismiss the science that they don't even begin to understand.

Answer 5

This is because global warming is more of a political issue than scientific. It affects political policy. If it was scientific, then skeptical views would also be accepted and considered as opposed to the current hysteria.

Answer 6

Lets look at this way providing a job out stand anything else.

Answer 7

I think the earth has been going through changes since the ice age, is that what they call global warming?

Answer 8

The scientific community is not a rhetorical bunch. They often shy away from public speaking and leave that to politicians. They like to talk more about their findings than their personal beliefs.

The problem is that the non-scientists who have latched on to this idea of creating an opposition are trained to be effective rhetoricians, and are great at building an offense with phony science, media filtering, and governmental lobbying. They're largely going against the majority in the scientific community to secure their vested interests.

The GW theories are probably their own worst enemy, because they are considered not for their overwhelming scientific validation but as having created a forum of debate, turning GW into a fundamental and partisan issue when really the results of peer-reviewed science within the scientific community should be the final arbiter.

Answer 9

i agree with you.

i guess people around here subscribe to the "Monty Python" school of argument.

Answer 10

Global warming is not a scientific argument because science cannot be used to predict the future.  No one knows if 5 years from now the climate will be warmer or colder, and they will not have any calculations to show you how they came to their conclusion.

"Global warming" is only a political issue.  This is why the gvmt is getting involved.

Answer 11

It may be that some or many of the posters here are employees of Exxon or orther companies with economic interest.  Public social sites are regularly seeded by companies for PR and advertising.  You would do well to look elsewhere for real scientific information.  I suggest Scientific American magazine or other credible source.

Answer 12

its called political science, its all tied togetther

Answer 13

Wow, you make a good point! Global Warming does have a political aspect to it since it is politicians who decide how to handle it (unfortunately),  but you are absolutely correct that its basic significance is scientific.

I think people just like to sound off their emotions and opinions whenever possible, so debates devolve into political arguments very quickly rather than staying focused on the nature of the issue. People asking scientific questions will get a lecture on Al Gore instead, yes.

Answer 14

Yes.

In every question in the global warming section there are inevitably several answers that say 'global warming is just a big hoax' or something equally stupid.  They never make scientific arguments, only political ones, and they don't even bother to answer the actual question.  It definitely annoys me, but I've learned to just ignore them, give them a well-deserved thumbs-down, and move on to read the quality answers.

Answer 15

You have a great point. The science in Al Gores movie was not his own, it was from the best and brightest environmental scientists and climatologists on our planet. Al Gore was simply the voice attached to the science so that a lot of people would listen. Unfortunately, some less than intelligent individuals automatically assume anything  Al Gore says is wrong because he is an "alarmist".

Person above me.. "current hysteria" ??? the united states government has accomplished NOTHING in terms of trying to solve this issue and our current administration isnt worried about it. The damages from global warming do need to be adressed now but no one is out in the street yelling "WE"RE ALL GONNA DIE".  Global warming will have consequences decades in the future, but only small impacts now.

Answer 16

If global warming is a science issue, why do so many prominent scientists want nothing to do with it?  The answer is that they realize it's a political game, and by supporting something so rediculous they're not only looking stupid themselves, but are supporting unneeded and destructive 'repair forces' out to repair a myth.

It's all political - has nothing to do with science at all.  That's the reason politics is mentioned, and Al Gore is the politician who supports it most, likely for financial gains.

Answer 17

People need to ask better questions to get better answers.  The question that you refer to is very broad and would require a very long and comprehensive response to address all of the science.  The IPCC reports http://www.ipcc.ch/ do this.  Few scientists have the time to write answers of that scope for a venue like YA.  Scientists tend to publish larger scope items in the peer-reviewed literature instead or talk directly with decision makers. Those that proffer short political answers do so out of profound willful ignorance.  Many of the scientific issues broken into bite-sized scope pertaining to AGW have already been discussed in this forum by scientists.  Only a few well-informed people like Dana, Bob and Ken have the patience to repeat comprehensive answers time after time on a regular basis.  There are several others that provide very high quality answers less frequently.  If you ask a unique well- focussed question, you will still get the usual noise from the willfully ignorant, but more of the scientists will come out of the woodwork to provide a quality answer.